Technology

Robot technology is flying! Literally.

Here are a couple of videos from a Swiss lab where they are developing quadrocopters that can play tennis and build structures.

By developing amazing software that allows the flying robots to work automatically, they are performing tasks that may one day mean difficult and dangerous jobs can be done quicker and safer.

Not only does this show how the construction industry may be changed in the future, it will be interesting to see how these types of machines could one day help in an emergency rescue situation.

The Oblong Industries G-Speak Spacial Operating Environment

If you ever watched the film Minority Report and thought “That computer is cool.. I can’t wait for those to be real”, well you might not be waiting too much longer.

Oblong Industries created the G-Speak SOE platform (SOE means Spatial Operating Environment), an early version of which was actually seen in the movie being used by Tom Cruise. It looks like brilliant technology, however, it does need some space and I’m sure it wouldn’t come cheap. It’s quite exciting that this could be how computing is done in the future, it seems it could be especially useful for structural planning and engineering.

Here’s a great video from the Oblong website showing the system in use, with gloves moving graphics and 2 person interaction:

I’m so looking forward to the days when computers are more of an active experience.. I know its dependant on space, but in the age of the Nintendo Wii and Xbox Kinect, it kind of feels like the isolated, sentient life of someone working on a computer should perhaps be a thing of the past.. why shouldn’t work be more tactile, active and enjoyable?

Here’s a clip from Minority Report too.. Just to compare, although I’m pretty sure some extra CGI may have enhanced the film footage.